So the sixth Mortal Instruments book has been released, read, and reread. Tears were shed, plot lines were resolved, and happy endings were had by all. By all except for the readers who now have nothing in the young adult, urban fiction, paranormal romance, angel/demon/all-of-the-above genre to read.
Jace and Clary had an epic love that overcame obstacle after obstacle. While we have been promised appearances by our favorites in the Cassandra Clare’s upcoming series The Infernal Devices, updates are not the same as details. If you are suffering from withdrawal and don’t know which rune to chose to stop the pain, take heart! A new book is always the answer.
If you are itching for something to fill the shadowhunter void, try Ruth Warburton’s Witch Finder series. Even though it is set in a more comparable time to Clare’s Infernal Devices series, the worlds of The Mortal Instruments and The Witch Finders are extremely similar. Warburton’s take focuses on the world of witches, and casts the witch hunters in a rather complicated light. Each witch hunter has a story of why they hunt and kill witches.
Even though they are labeled young adult, these stories are not for the faint of heart. We learn that witches are bad pretty early in the story. Then we meet Rosa and come to learn that some witches are very, very bad. Her family is terrible. But some witches are also pretty harmless, and some are even kind. Without the benefit of the Ms. Clare’s Clave and the Accords, the witch hunters, including the luscious Luke, in Warburton’s world take a ‘kill them all and sleep better at night’ approach.
With only two books done to date, Warburton has plenty of room to grow and lots of places to go. She is an author that I really think deserves a lot more praise and attention than she gets.
If you like the impossible lovers (witch and witch hunter are a pretty good replacement for siblings after all), paranormal world, and urban setting, pick up Witch Finder and the follow-up, Witch Hunt. You won’t be disappointed.